I've been researching these interesting rifles recently, but they appear to have one of the muddiest historical records of any rifle I've looked into

Some made by Beretta, some by Springfield, and some are still made by random shops ranging from Bubba to the illustrious Shuff's Parkerizing outfit. Since the BM59 series were conceived to be M1's modified on the cheap into modern guns (essentially M14-type rifles), there is a lot of variance in both the guns modifed, and in the configuration they were modified to.

My question is; what should I be looking for in a potential buy? The only things I've come across as being (fairly) fool proof ways to tell a real BM59 are:

-A really low serial no. (i.e. 000xxxx or X000xxx as opposed to 2xxxxxx)
-Rear receiver stamping of P. Beretta or Springfield Armory (as opposed to Natl. Ord or other)
-Absolutely ensuring there are no indications of reciever rewelding
-A gap between gas tube and barrel (unlike Garand mods, with no gap)
*-Presence of a winter trigger lever at the front of the trigger guard (implies Alpine and similiar models)
*-Two-tube folding butt stock, if a folder
*-5" "tri compensator" with lugs on its bottom side

Even to these criteria, it sounds like there are exceptions (aside from the reweld jobs, which seem to have a really bad rep for reliability, regardless of price). Are there any other "rules of thumb" for spotting a real (and hopefully, good) BM 59? These guns seem very cool; the big brother of the M1 carbine , and look to be a good deal handier than my FNAR Heavy Barrel.

I suppose I should also ask if anybody with experience with the guns could sound off on how well they liked (or hated :uhoh the rifle, since they are not very common.

TCB

*may or may not be present based on model/config

__________________
"I don't believe that the men of the distant past were any wiser than we are today. But it does seem that their science and technology were able to accomplish much grander things."
-- Alex Rosewater

It's been awhile since I've owned a BM62, so bear with me. Look for a Berben or Benet import first... then a Springfield Armory. Avoid Golden State unless it's really cheap... they are mostly re-welds.
Also... if you go to machinegunboards.com... there is a BM59 (and to a lesser degree the 62/69) specific forum. A few of the members are exceptionally knowledgeable regarding the history, models, variations... and who imported what, where and when.

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